San Jose Hosts Top Ranked Chicago
Tim Ball
Friday April 16, 2004
Buy tickets, buy snacks and souvenirs, but don’t buy any hype surrounding the SaberCats/Rush game. The ArenaBowl is not until June 27th and no one gets there unless they keep winning the next game.
Arguably the best two teams in the league, Chicago and San Jose go at it for a place in the win column above the other and positioning in the playoff seeding. But first things first means victory in the next game. A win in this game establishes the league’s best team. Just cold hard facts; it’s that simple.
Players prepare for that next game and have little time to wonder where they’ll be come playoff time. The SaberCats seem to play to win for the sake of excellence as much as a trip to the championship, and teams that play them want to beat the best team in the league.
And for the last two seasons that has been the San Jose SaberCats.
13-1 and 12-4 in the last two regular seasons respectively, the SaberCats have earned the right to be called the best. Chicago has been equally impressive this season and it remains to be seen what will go down between the two teams.
Being the number one seed with the best record in the Arena Football League happens by winning and being a winner. That alone motivates the San Jose players, and it motivates their opponents to prove they are the equals of San Jose. A big reason that the SaberCats maintain a high winning percentage is that they want to be the best. Under head coach Darren Arbet the SaberCats have a .733 winning percentage and, after the loss to Dallas, quarterback Mark Grieb only now enters double figures in the loss column since becoming the starter in 2000.
SaberCats players are mentioned in AFL weekly honors on a regular basis. New names like kick-returner Rashied Davis replace league legends one week and then take a back seat when a San Jose veteran like receiver James Roe comes up big with another performance of continued excellence.
When playing the SaberCats, more is on the line than just putting one in the win column. For San Jose, they walk away from a win secure in their elite status. Teams that beat the SaberCats know they have made a statement that can’t be ignored and have proven something very important: something to themselves.
“Momentum is now in our favor,” said fullback/linebacker Bob McMillen in a team release after the victory over defending champion Tampa Bay. “We’re expecting a great game next week in San Jose.”
“Teams get up for us and we know that,” said defensive coordinator Michael Church. “Whether at home or away, we face teams that want to prove something by beating the SaberCats.”
What price victory
Seven games left in the season is enough time for major shakeups or continued dominance by a few teams when the dust settles. There are a lot of good teams this season and, although we can expect a few teams to definitely make the playoffs, all is not certain.
Chicago comes in to San Jose for one thing and one thing only, that is to win a game over the team that can establish the Rush as excellent in its own right. Confidence from game to game is paramount to maintaining the attitude needed to continue to win and Chicago has kept pace with San Jose all season. But it is the SaberCats all teams look forward to beating, and San Jose players love the challenge and know all too well what motivates their opponents.
Both teams have personnel that are performing game after game with few let downs, and the winning records enjoyed by both teams are earned by more than one player producing.
At quarterback, San Jose’s Grieb and Chicago’s Raymond Philyaw have two very different styles, but still depend on the same thing. Protection keeps the game flowing in the direction of victory. Grieb and Philyaw are rated number one and three respectively in quarterback rating, and defenses will have to find a way to disrupt them or it will be the last possession that will decide this game, a theme that seems to dominate this season like no other.
Philyaw can scramble and run effectively and if Grieb finds the time in the pocket he needs this will be a scoring fest from beginning to end. Both San Jose and Chicago have established the rushing game as the statement they want to make as the intimidation factor, as both teams are impressive in the red zone and utilize the run exactly the same way. When close, both teams pound it in and dare the other team to stop them.
Power ball
Hype is great for the NBC crew, league scribes and pundits, but the players will be on the field deciding the important issues. This game holds out the promise of delivering the defining game of the season so far.
It’s clear that there are teams that will make the playoffs, and San Jose and Chicago have little to worry about, but that’s not for weeks to come. The SaberCats are in their house and the Rush will not be welcomed. McMillen may have been a part of San Jose’s championship team in 2002, but he’s running the wrong way now. There are new players who have taken his place in the hearts and minds of the SaberCats faithful.
Winning itself is a prize only one team can claim each game, and both San Jose and Chicago want to leave the other behind as the statement to be made and that can only happen on the field Friday night.
Fans will have their money well spent as what’s at stake is worth the price of any seat in the house.
Watching and reading about the games this season, and visiting team and league websites before and after, you know this game is for the players as much as the franchises.
The team that walks off the field a winner will claim the best record in the league.
Tim Ball is a writer in the Chicagoland area. Married and father of three, his opinions on Arena Football reflects the positive aspect of the game as a family event second to none in pro sports.
